Should I STR or medium term lease my Truckee / Tahoe-Donner home

[Mandie Holmes]

Hi--

After a couple years of listening to the podcast and reading through the Biggerpockets website, I'm so excited to have a reason to post. :)

This spring, I was able to purchase my dream mountain home in the Tahoe-Donner neighborhood of Truckee, CA. It's a very well maintained 3bd/3b home that was lived in year round by the previous owners, so it's much hardier than many of the vacation homes in the neighborhood. It also has a unique layout compared to your typical "cabin" in the area (ie. it has multiple public rooms and very large bedrooms vs. one great room and bedrooms barely able to hold a queen bed and a dresser). It's also 25% larger than nearby 3/3 homes. Even though I won't be able to move in until next summer, these characteristics (as well as a very good deal from a motivated seller) made the home too good to pass up.

The question now is do I STR the home, try to find a Sept - June lease, or do a ski lease (Dec-May)? I feel very confident understanding running it as an STR, and had been intending to do so with whatever Truckee home I bought. The COVID situation, however, has many families looking for homes in Truckee / Tahoe for the school year. I see a real opportunity with the home's layout being more conducive to a full time family. There is TONS of demand for homes available from Sept/Oct to June.

Are there aspects of doing a medium term lease that I might be overlooking given that I've been looking at doing STR for so long? Does anyone have a sample medium term lease for Truckee/Tahoe (CA side) that I could read for greater understanding of the tenant/ landlord relationship? What are your takes on COVID19 and the rental market for MTR/STR in resort communities, like Truckee, that are supported by Tech salaries and where WFH will be the norm at least until July?

Thank you so much for your insights in advance! I look forward to being able to pay it forward on BP.